Launchpad Lesson 8 - Fields

Hi there. Now we're going to look at fields.

Fields are where we store data about a record. In this lesson, we'll explore how fields work on a given object, what a standard field is, and how to create new custom fields designed to capture specific information about your prospects and customers—information that is unique to your business.

Let's go.

Every object in Salesforce has fields, and you'll find them under the Details tab on each record.

Fields come in a wide range of formats. You have text fields, date fields, phone number fields, currency fields, checkboxes, picklists, and more.

Recall our main standard sales objects: Leads, Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities. They all have standard fields that Salesforce has created for you.

You can't rename or completely delete these standard fields, but you can make them invisible to users, as we'll see in the next lesson on page layouts.

In addition to standard fields, you can create custom fields for any of your objects. This is where you'll store key information specifically related to your business and sales process—information that Salesforce wouldn't include out of the box.

For example, at Rocket Shop, we care about the number of rockets our prospects and customers launch every year. Obviously, this isn't going to be a standard field in Salesforce, so we'll need to create a custom field.

The other thing we need to decide is which object or objects these fields should belong to.

Let's go into Salesforce and have a look.

Now, let's take a look at how to access the list of fields. We're going to visit a new area in the administrative setup.

First, go to Setup.

Then, select Object Manager.

Here, you'll see all the objects in the system. Let's focus on the fields in the Account object.

Click Account, and then select Fields & Relationships from the panel on the left.

This list shows all the standard fields that Salesforce has already created for the Account object.

We can remove some of the fields we don't want or need, but we don't do that here. We do that using page layouts, which we'll cover in the next lesson.

In the top-right corner of the screen, you'll see a New button. This button allows you to create new custom fields for this object.

Click New, and let's take a look at the different field options.

As you can see, there are quite a few options. Salesforce has helpfully provided a brief description of each field type and what it's used for.

Many of these are fairly self-explanatory, so we don't need to spend a lot of time explaining what a date field or phone number field is used for.

As long as you understand that when you create a custom field using one of these options, the resulting field will display data in that specific format, you'll be in good shape.

For example, a phone number field formats the data as a 10-digit phone number, complete with the area code in brackets, even if the user enters 10 consecutive digits.

There is one field type here that's particularly important and requires a little more explanation. It's called a Lookup Relationship.

Lookup relationships create a parent-child relationship between two objects.

What does that mean? Let's demonstrate by creating a new Contact record.

From the Contacts menu header, select New to create a new Contact record.

A Contact record looks up to an Account record through a standard lookup field. Here's the lookup field.

It's identified by the magnifying glass icon. This means that the Contact is the child of the Account, which is the parent.

In plain English, this means that the person, or Contact, works at the company, or Account.

This particular field will only accept Account records in Salesforce. The user can't simply enter random text.

This is how we establish links, or relationships, between two objects.

Salesforce already has a number of lookup fields configured. However, as you grow on the platform and begin creating new custom objects—a topic we won't need to cover right away—you may need to use lookup relationship fields to establish connections between your objects.

Now, to show you how to create a new custom field, we'll demonstrate a Formula field.

Let's use a very simple example.

Suppose we want to display a salesperson's potential commission on an Opportunity, and we pay our salespeople 15% of the total sale amount.

I know that's an overly simple commission formula, but it will help demonstrate how this works.

Let's also say that we only want salespeople, their managers, and system administrators to see this field. Otherwise, other employees might see how much money salespeople could make and decide they want to become sales reps without realizing how much work it involves.

Let's go to the Object Manager for the Opportunity object.

Click Fields & Relationships, then click New.

Select Formula, and click Next.

The field label is what users see in Salesforce. This field will contain the actual commission amount, calculated using a formula.

It will be uneditable, meaning users won't be able to enter an amount manually. The value will be calculated automatically.

We'll call this field Commission.

Click in the second field-name box. The value will populate automatically.

Because commissions are expressed in dollars, we'll select Currency.

Leave the decimal places set to two, and click Next.

Now, we'll build our formula.

You can use either the Simple Formula or Advanced Formula tab. In most cases, you'll want to use Simple Formula.

On the Opportunity object, there's a standard field called Amount, where the salesperson enters what they believe the opportunity is worth.

Click the dropdown arrow beside Insert Merge Field, and select Amount.

Then, click Insert Operator, select Multiply, and enter 0.15 to represent the commission percentage.

It's always a good idea to check the syntax of your formula to make sure Salesforce can interpret it correctly. In this case, the formula is valid.

We also recommend adding help text to most, if not all, of your custom fields.

Remember, help text is intended for users. The description is primarily for administrators who may need to understand what you've configured.

Click Next, and remove visibility for everyone except the Sales User, Sales Manager, and System Administrator profiles we created earlier.

Click Next.

Keep the field on the Opportunity layout, and click Save.

Voila! You've just created your first custom field. Nice job!

Now, all we've done is create the field. We still need to place it in the appropriate location on the record.

We'll do that in the next lesson, where we set up our record pages.

Don't worry—we'll be creating many more custom fields in future lessons. By the time you're finished, you'll be a custom-field-building expert.